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I came across Oscar Lai’s blog recently on Racial Profiling. He makes the argument, that it is in the public security interest that airplane passengers of certain religious background should be scrutinized more than others. Although it is likely that muslims or visitors from the Middle East may be more susceptible to terrorist manipulation, this can get very ugly very fast. What this implies is that if one group of minority is targeted and descriminated against, it will serve as a precedent for further descrimination. If Muslims have to pass through extra security measures at the airport today, will Africans going to America pass through more stringent STI tests tomorrow? Will Chinese visas be delayed due to prolonged background checks to cope with spying worries? As you can see, if one group begins to be singled out, many more may follow. And soon, we will have another WWII scenario where Japanese-Americans can legally have their properties confiscated and their kids denied education. Will Asian and Arab businessmen be happy doing business with a country that’s racially profiling them? I certainly won’t be.

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With Greece already defaulting on 50% of private investor’s bonds, and Portugese, Irish and Italian bond yields at record highs, what can Germany and Europe do to fight the fear of contagion? One proposal put forward is the Eurobond. However, Germany has been very clear that it does not want fiscally irresponsible Eurozone members like Greece to borrow at its expense.

So what next? A sound proposal by many analysts is suggesting an European Central Bank purchase of debts through the IMF. This is feasible in three ways. First, Germany, will not have its own bond yields rise. And second, it won’t have to buy the bonds directly, underwriting the risk to the ECB. Third, it will also give Europe more voting rights in the IMF.

There are problems. First, Germany will still be paying the bills (through the ECB and then through the IMF for indebted countries). And second, the emerging economies may worry about the Fund’s possible exposure to Europe’s turmoil. But if Germany is going to pay anyways, and the risk can be underwritten back to the ECB through a special mechanism, then this idea might just work.

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Bill Gates pops up whenever the word entrepreneurship comes to mind. One of the most important reasons is his passion for his dreams. Gates gave up his Harvard future to pursue operating software. His career started off when he developed the BASIC interpreter for MITS — for free! The partnership was then registered as the trademark “Microsoft.” But it wasn’t until IBM’s request for his BASIC interpreter that his success really began. He bought the 86-DOS (QDOS) from SCP and licensed it to IBM, rather then developing it himself, demonstrating his insight and talent in deciphering business’ needs.

The moral of the story, is that first, he was smart (scoring 1590/1600) on his SAT. Academic prowess is essential for successful entrepreneurship (although Jobs may be a rare exception). Secondly, his passion and fascination for operating software serves as his motivation which is also necessary. And lastly, his business decisions as demonstrated by his offer of free BASIC software to MITS and his swiftness in grasping his partnership with IBM, are also crucial for entrepreneurs. Overachieving all three requirements, Bill Gates in my opinion, is the greatest entrepreneur in the world.